Reddit Reddit reviews Marx: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

We found 2 Reddit comments about Marx: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Biographies
Books
Marx: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Check price on Amazon

2 Reddit comments about Marx: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions):

u/OpeningProcess · 2 pointsr/economy

If you think that's what Karl Marx wrote, I'm pretty sure you have actually have never studied Karl Marx.

Marx's experience was deeply rooted in 19th century Europe. This was the period after the 1789 French Revolution. The period when for the first time, democracy emerged, the market economy grew and finance and industrialization spread. European societies went through an unprecedented transformation when millions of peasants moved to cities and started become employed. There were no labor law or rules.

Marx argued that every society throughout history is based on a hierarchical structure. Elites at the top enjoy great wealth and free time. Non-elites have no free time or restrained free time. The conflict between those two classes take different forms in different societies. He mentions the Pleb and the Nobility in Ancient Rome, the Slaves and Masters in Greece, and the Lords and Peasants in Feodal Europe. He notices those classes have been in conflict with each others because every hierarchical order has been market by violence and revolts from the lower order when they feel that the upper order has been too abusive.

Marx did not argue against capitalism or oppose capitalism in any way.

People who claim this have never read him. Marx believed Capitalism was a formidable force that allowed to overthrow feodalism. He saw the emergence of a new class, the bourgeoisie, replacing the feodal one, as a formidable event in human history. This class made its wealth through trade and has a strong interest in rule of law.

At the time people worked up to 12, 16 hours a day in terrible conditions. This led to regular episodes of violence. Marx predicted that the bourgeoisie in a capitalist system was a formidable class because the most educated bourgeois would eventually realize that to keep their power and privilege, they would have to make concessions on the political ground and on labor grounds. For decades, strikers were beaten up, killed, and riots broke out until labor unions were recognized. Wealthy families such as the Cadburries started taking care of their workers and arguing for stronger norms to protect the most vulnerable people.

Marx also worked on Globalization. He predicted that Capitalism would always feel restrained in a national territory. He saId business, by it's very nature, would always feel an unresistible need to thrive on an international level and that one day this would happen. Marx however warned that this could also lead to great threats as each national ruling class would try to beat commercially the foreign bourgeoisies, leading to great tensions between European powers. Marx turned out to be right and this is one of the key reason why France almost went to war with Germany in the 19th century to obtain exclusivity over commercial trade outposts on the African West-Coast.

Marx believe that the business bourgeoisie played a key role in in the emergence of parliamentary democracy in England then in France, and the establishment of rule of law. He predicted that all European Kingdoms would fall under the pressure of capitalism and those countries would transform into democracies. At the time, only property owners had the right to vote. Workers, who tried to demand the right to vote, were repressed. Marx predicted that in a future society this would evolve and every citizen would have the right to vote.

Marx predicted that Capitalism would fall into crisis because of accumulation. Lack of profits because lack of a consumer base would become a major problem and would lead to falling stocks unless the government, whichh represented the common interest of the elite, decided to intervene with major public spending. He argued that Financial Crisis would happen regularly because they are normal features of the Capitalist system.

Marx supported the revolutionary movement against the Tsar in Russia. He, however, worried that another exploitative group, pretending to represent the working class, would seize power and create a dictatorship as savage and ferocious as ever before. This is exactly what happened in both Russia and China.

____



Marx is a man who observed the end of feodalism. Things he predicted would happen include :

u/This-Example · -3 pointsr/arabs

If you think that's what Karl Marx wrote, I'm pretty sure you have actually have never studied Karl Marx. Karl Marx was never an opportunist politico. He lived most of his life in misery and refused several well-paying jobs to continue his writting passion.

He was an intellectual and philosopher who lived in the beginning of 19th century Europe.

At the time, every single European country was an absolute dictatorship like Syria or Egypt. Labor laws literally did not exist. Labor Unions did not exist. The United Kingdom, the least dictatorial country, was a Feodal Nation where 95% of the population did not have the right to vote.

The 19th century started with the death of the French Revolution dream and Napoleon and the return of the French Absolute Monarchy to power. The century ended with the fall of several Dictators and progressive democratization throughout all of Europe. Marx's genius was that he lived through all this. Industrialization, the emergence of Modern Finance, Modern Capitalism and Democracy.

Marx argued that every society throughout history is based on a hierarchical structure. Elites at the top enjoy great wealth and free time. Non-elites have no free time or restrained free time.

Marx himself did not argue against capitalism or oppose capitalism in any way. He described Capitalism as a formidable economic system. He saw the emergence of a new class, the bourgeoisie, replacing the feodal one, as a formidable event in human history.

At the time, millions of rural people moved to cities, working up to 12, 16 hours a day in terrible conditions. This led to regular episodes of extreme violence in England. Marx predicted that the bourgeoisie in a capitalist system was a formidable class because the most educated bourgeois would eventually realize that to keep their power and privileges, they would have to make concessions on social grounds. For decades, UK strikers were beaten up, killed, and riots broke out until labor unions were finally recognized. Wealthy families such as the Cadburries started taking care of their workers and arguing for stronger norms to protect the most vulnerable people.

Marx believe that the business bourgeoisie played a key role in in the emergence of parliamentary democracy in England then in France, and the establishment of rule of law. The 1789 French Revolution failed and in 1820, the French Monarchy was back to power. Marx predicted that it would not last. He said Capitalism, by diffusing power, would create the condition to destroy the old order. All European Kingdoms would fall under the anger of Labor and the pressure of the Bourgeoisie. This happened in the great 1848 European Democratic Spring.

Marx predicted that Capitalism would fall into crisis because of accumulation. Lack of profits because lack of a consumer base would become a major problem and would lead to falling stocks unless the government, whichh represented the common interest of the elite, decided to intervene with major public spending. He argued that Financial Crisis would happen regularly because they are normal features of the Capitalist system.

Marx personally opposed all forms of authoritarianism and hated religious intolerance. What he described as "dictatorship of the proletariat" was the Commune de Paris in 1870 where democratically elected workers tried to run Paris themselves. He supported the revolutionary movements everywhere but he was always worried that another exploitative group, pretending to represent the working class, would seize power and create a dictatorship as savage and ferocious as ever before. This is sadly exactly what happened in both Russia and China and they have stained his name.

Things he predicted would happen include :